Read Online All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker - Free Book Online Page B

never know the truth, and if you did know, you would probably be fighting to save your marriage. I may appear a renegade. A miscreant. But no relationship can survive the naked truth, the whole truth. No. Once a couple have confessed their true feelings to each other, whether in private or in couples therapy or even to friends with big mouths, the game is over. Don’t you see? Don’t you know this in your heart of hearts? We love people for who they are and how they make us feel. We can usually tolerate their faults and even keep them to ourselves. But once we see any reflection of ourselves in their eyes that is not the one we want to see, that we need to see to feel good, the backbone of the love is broken.
    Tom was never given a chance. No reflection Charlotte saw in his eyes could ever be trusted, because he knew only the one Charlotte who had been revealed to him. Bob Sullivan, and only Bob Sullivan, knew them both.
    Charlotte and Bob met during the day in the small pool house at the very edge of the Kramers’ yard. There was a dirt road that was used by the pool company and mostly concealed by trees. Even in the winter, it was possible for Bob to park and not be seen from the road. The yard was fenced. They had been very careful. They both had a lot to lose.
    Jenny sat on the bed that night her mother made rosemary chicken, unable to stand herself for one more minute. She heard her mother leave to pick up Lucas. She heard them come home. She tried to wait for her parents to go to bed, but they had another one of their “talks” that would not end. She went to the stash of pills she had collected from the bathrooms of her friends’ parents, and took a small white one. Those were always Xanax or lorazepam or Valium. She didn’t know them by these terms, but I recognized them from the description she gave, both of their physical appearance and the effect they had on her when she took them. Twenty minutes later, she was asleep.
    The next morning she went to school on the bus. Her mother waved good-bye. She went to homeroom and Chemistry and History. At lunch, she started to walk home.
    I have said that Bob Sullivan was running for the state legislature. This is why his wife, Fran, hired the investigator to follow him and collect evidence. I have found that people know when something is not right. Even if the intimacy has already disappeared from the marriage, the other changes are simply too difficult to conceal. Happiness, in particular, does not like to hide in the shadows. In Bob’s case, it was simply that his wife knew him too well.
    That afternoon, after Jenny had walked home, Charlotte met Bob in the pool house. It was not a large structure—a twelve-by-twelve changing area with an attached bathroom. There was a sofa and tile floor, sliding doors with shades, and some shelves for towels and sunscreen and various pool things. And a small, sound-activated recording device installed by Fran Sullivan’s investigator.
    This is what it recorded:
    [door closing, shades rattling, female voice laughing playfully]
    â€œShhh, come here, gorgeous.”
    [kissing sounds, heavy breathing]
    â€œHow much time do you have?”
    â€œHalf an hour, so take off your clothes and get on the floor.”
    [more laughter, sighs, sound of clothing being removed]
    â€œYou want my mouth today, don’t you? You want me to lick you?”
    â€œYes.”
    [female sighs, male moans]
    â€œIf you were my wife, I would eat you for dinner every night.”
    [female sighs, arousal]
    â€œWait, stop.…” [female voice, worried]
    â€œWhat?” [male voice, alarmed]
    â€œThe bathroom door … It’s closed, but under the door … I think the light’s on.” [female voice, whispering]
    [rustling, then silence]
    [loud female scream]
    â€œOh dear Lord! Dear Lord!” [male voice, terrified]
    [female screams]
    â€œHelp her! My baby! My baby